


Child of war in times of peace

by TheSecondMouse



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Dimension Travel, Genius Harry Potter, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Obscurus (Harry Potter), Past Child Abuse, Potter Luck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:08:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25605601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSecondMouse/pseuds/TheSecondMouse
Summary: The Horcrux in Harry's scar has been burned out in second year, which changes things. For example Harry falls through the Veil instead of Sirius.Since he also survives and finds himself in a universe where Voldemort hasn't ever existed, he now has to deal with living parents, the Harry that grew up with them and many others that don't act like they are supposed to.Also, Harry has been adopted by a Basilisk. Her name is Azara.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 5
Kudos: 110





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by C'est La Vie by cywscross and How Like Home by waitingondaisies

Harry had screamed and blackened out when the Horcrux in his scar had been burned out with Basilisk venom in second year.

Then he changed.

Part of his magic had always been subconsciously fighting Tom Riddle's soul's attempts to take over.

And, well, also it also focused on keeping his body functioning without food.

He had only been able to use enough magic for Hogwart's first year, because Harry had been a powerful child to begin with and because over the last eleven years or so, he had desperatly needed even more magic to protect himself, so it had adapted.

Almost as long as Harry could recall, there hadn't been anything that was too hot for him. In the summer he could have stayed in the sun forever. Even his cupboard hadn't been that bad, it was stuffy inside, but so warm. And although he _could_ remember a time where he burnt himself while cooking, once when he was five he had been too tired to pay attention to what he was doing and he had leaned onto the stove, he only noticed after about ten minutes. It frightened him at the time, but at least nobody had come into the kitchen before he had removed his arm from the heat.

A few days later, he had experimented when he was sure he was alone. Heat could hurt him, but it also always felt good. Weird. But Harry had not been willing to not ever do it again. After a while, he barely noticed the pain. His body always hurt. It was nothing new. Feeling good afterwards was, though.

Harry's body would be hurt by the flame, of course, but healing his hands constantly while they were being damaged took less energy than his magic absorbed.

Usually he'd have been an Obscurus a long time ago, but there just wasn't enough energy to form one. It was needed to keep Harry alive and to protect him from Voldemort's Horcrux.

And now he was finally free from it. The venom destroyed the Horcruxes.

His magic was used to having to protect, defend and heal him all the time, though. That's why it erected a shield around Harry's unconscious form instead of settling into his magical core. Then it started searching for danger. Magic couldn't burn out Basilisk venom but Harry's magic was used to wounds it couldn't heal directly and there was a lot of it. So it just directed part of its energy towards remaking the cells faster than they were destroyed.

There was still enough magic left to finally heal what had taken to much energy before, rebuild the body as it would have been in an ideal situation.

And then there was the part of Harry that wanted to rip and tear and _kill_ and that knew what would make things _scream_. It reached out looking for the threat it always suspected to be everywhere. _  
_

It found the Diary.

It noticed its connection to other things and beings. So after it was destroyed, the magic followed the bonds and ripped and killed some more. It took time, but anything feeling similar to that foul, slimy parasite was a _threat_ and they would not allow anything to harm them ever again.

Once they _eradicated_ the second, they noticed that the vessel had an energy of its own. It wasn't alive, so they took its power. They weren't sure how many were left and they had always needed every piece of energy they could find.

When they were finished they returned to their Harry. He had changed during their time away from him. Finally they would be able to protect him directly again and help him as often as he needed them to.

As soon as they were connected properly with their Harry, though, they felt his desperate wish to be next to the man falling into the deathmagic. They could protect their Harry from it, they were sure of it, so they acquiesced.

–––––––––

Harry didn't know how he managed to apparate next to Sirius, but it did not matter. He just pushed his dogfather out of the way, and was so grateful to be able to save him even as he himself fell into the arc with magic that screamed it would kill.

–––––––––

After the Basilisk attacked him, Harry woke up to the diary destroyed, the giant snake still alive, but not trying to kill him anymore and Ginny still unconscious. He tried to remember what had happend. He knew that he and Ron forced Lockhart to go Myrtle's bathroom with them. The entrance had opened and Lockhart stole Ron's wand since they had taken his. He tried to obliviate them, but the wand malfunctioned and Lockhart hit himself. Ron had had to stay there, because Lockhart had clung to him and screamed frantic questions.

Harry had slid down to get Ginny back. He found out that Tom Riddle was Voldemort and that he had possessed Ginny. Then Riddle commanded the Basilisk to attack him. Harry wouldn't have stood a chance in a fight, so tried to find a place to hide. He was lucky enough to find a hole he could cram himself into in one of the walls. The Basilisk still managed to bite him, he was sure of that. The last thing he could recall was the pain of the bite and the burning of the venom in his veins.

He felt fine now.

To keep it that way, he should probably go and take Ginny with him. He cautiously crawled out of the hole. The Basilik turned its head towards him. §I can hear you moving, snakelet§ Harry froze. §Since the first heir is gone now, you've the right to command me. Even if you do not, without an order to do so I would not harm a child of the species of speakers.§ The Basilisk flickered her tongue §You are afraid, like a mouse who is about to get eaten. You are not prey. Not anymore.§ The snake seemed to think that would calm him down. It did, kind of. Harry was still terrified, but he was now moving to pick Ginny up. He would try to get up the pipes somehow, he supposed. But the snake glided behind him and hissed §lift§ when he was at the slide. A platform appeared. Well, that would make things much easier. It seemed rude not say anything, so he hesitantly hissed §thank you§. The Basilik seemed happy about that and now that Harry thought about it, he probably should be polite to the giant snake who could kill him with one look. Besides, he did have some manners. §I'm Harry Potter. Do you have a name?§

§I am Azara, heir§

He couldn't bring it over himself to say nice to meet you, not with the burning pain, hurting more than anything he had felt before so fresh in his memory, so he just asked

§Please don't kill or petrify anymore students or pets or ghosts?§

§I will not, heir. But I do need something to nourish me. I'm starving for hundreds of years now. I was meant to protect Hogwarts and I can not do so if I leave to hunt. But if I do not hunt and do not eat I have to hibernate to survive and will not notice any danger unless an heir tells me to wake. But I am slowly dying even if I am not awake all the time. Will you bring me food?§

Harry had heard someone hissing §sooo hungry§ earlier in this school year and now he remembered what that was like. The gnawing of hunger in your stomach that continued until you only felt numb and the knowledge that you were going to starve to death.

§Yes.§ he said §I will come back with food as soon as possible. In three days at most. Do you eat meat?§

§Anything you give me, heir. Meat or fish or fresh water.§

§I will be back soon, Azara. Up.§

The lift started to move. Magic still laid over Harry like a cloak.

–––––––––

He wished he wouldn't have to confront the drama, the accusations, his classmates and his teachers again. The last months had worn him down. Even if they would revere him again, instead of demonizing him, he now knew how easily they changed their minds.

He was tired of being seen as Harry Potter.

He wished nobody would notice him.

His magic reacted.

–––––––––

When they were asked what had happend, Ginny could hardly tell, and Harry made up a story of a book that he had burned. He said that it had possessed Ginny, which was true, but told nothing of the snake. Azara was dangerous and they would kill her if they knew of her. Harry felt a kinship to the being everyone had forgotten in the darkness, were it was starving, until someone thought it useful.

Nobody asked more questions and nobody noticed his change in appearance or behaviour.

In the next years he was the target of less scorn. Malfoy and Snape tended to ignore him more than fight against him now. Neither was that interested in keeping to remind themselves, that Harry Potter was Harry and that he was living in the same school as they did. The public and the reporters weren't really influenced by the notice-me-not magic, but people just didn't immediatly associate him with all the articles the press published about the Boy-Who-Lived. Dumbledore didn't try to award him points he hadn't really earned anymore but Sirius still talked to him and promised him family and although Harry could take care of himself, he was used to wishing for his parents. Sirius was a connection to them and he didn't _dislike_ his godfather.

And later, he learned to like him when he kept sending letters and if they were sometimes addressed to James instead of Harry, well, he would have been a bit confused too after having to be in the presence of Dementors for about a decade.

–––––––––

Harry had never drawn any attention to himself on purpose, no matter what everybody said, so he faded into the background most of the time although the saviour was still a puplic figure.

Even he and his friends drifted apart. Ron stopped speaking to him, when Harry wasn't connected with the image of Harry Potter anymore and when Hermione hadn't anything to nag him about, it was hard to find a topic of conversation since Hermione wasn't the type to enjoy gossip and Harry didn't want rehash all they had done in class.

And Harry had a Basilisk to care for.

–––––––––

He had asked the house-elves for supplies and they told him that nobody really cared how they handled the household money or what they bought, as long as the food was acceptable.

That's why they had a lot of money saved up and they had no problem procuring meat for him. They even brought it into the Chamber as long as Harry made sure that the Basilisk stayed in her cave as long as they were there.

Azara was now well fed and clean and he had started to renovate the Chamber. He wanted to see if he could make animals live in it. That way Azara would never have to starve again, even when he had long since died.

At first he thought fish might be relativly easy to keep since they would, hopefully, not take up as much space as other animals and there already were puddles of water at some places.

Since he hadn't wanted to tell anybody anything about the Basilisk he researched the topic of constructing ponds and what fish would need what environment and what food in the library himself. Apparently there were carnivores, herbivores and omnivores, but no matter which kind, the fish would need some kind of food.

He would propably have to grow plants first before could make _any_ animal live in the Chamber by itself. In order to do that he needed more space. So he researched room extension charms and ways how one could make a room indoors into basically a farm.

He needed so much different spells and runes and even some potions that he paid a third year in his first week of research to bring him twenty proper notebooks.

Then he noticed that he forgot his homework and fell behind in class too much if he only concentrated on his project. Because he actually wanted to stay at Hogwarts, he started doing his homework as soon as possible and even worked in Binn's class. Granted he didn't necessarily did something for history, but he used the time. He also set aside an hour a day to search for ways to memorize things faster and later when he found occlumency to be the best solution, he practised it in that time.

He actually made his own study plan, because he knew he would otherwise either not sleep or not learn.

His grades were getting much better and nobody noticed.

He chose Runes and Care for his third year and although he was aware that he was turning into Hermione what with spending all his time working, he couldn't bring himself to regret anything when he was saw how the Chamber had changed.

It was really and truly something of his own. After about two years of work and the help of the house elves who were invaluable in smuggling things into the Chamber, it could barely be recognised.

It was much bigger now. The artificial weather imitated nature, but altered it a bit to suit the animals and plants better. The ceiling looked like the sky, although the walls could still be recognised as the end of the current expanded space.

The slimy, rotten bones at the entrance had been turned into dust a long time ago. Instead, the slide ended on a grassland, where he had managed to grow carrots, salads, tomatoes, pumpkins and melons, wild chive and so on. There was an area for hares, in which some groceries and herbs as well as grass grew to keep the bunnies fed and an area for cows which needed nothing more than grass. Although both were surrounded by a barrier, they each encompassed a fairly large area. A stream flowed slowly through both habitats and ended in a pond.

Harry had even managed to build some hills and a well on top of one, from which the river stemed.

On the hills there was a small orchard and behind them a forest on which he was still working on.

A herd of deers was already living in it, though. They and the cows would probably be the main food source for the Basilisk, while the hares and the fish living in the ponds would hopefully supplement them.

Berries were growing in it and some edible mushrooms. Grass, of course, and in a carefully spelled clearing different kinds of flowers flourished.

In the orchard and the forest and the grassland, he had made space for some bees to pollenize the plants.

To prevent any animals escaping, Harry had had to put a lot of work into the barriers. Himself and the Basilisk could come and go into all the different habitats as they pleased, but nothing else could.

There were still too little animals to sustain Azana in the long run, but they were getting there.

The nutrients in the earth would be renewed by redirecting all organical garbage of Hogwarts, filtered so that no illnesses would be introduced, into the soil. If there was too much the whole landscape would just be pushed up, where there was plenty of space.

And if he had built a system into the very foundation of this new land, that produced a list of almost all the ripe products in the orchard and of about sixty percent of those in the fields, ten percent of the berries and three percent of the mushrooms, one version of which was then placed into the kitchens and one in his own hands and if the house-elves only had to tip on the names and name a number to get the products sent into the storage room in the kitchen then that was his business now, wasn't it.

He was sure they'd put the money they would save to good use.

Besides they had helped him, and he liked them and also it was hilarious that they had an alliance with the goblins. He was only too happy to support them.

It was kind of awkward and uncomfortable to be buried under a mountain of grateful house-elves.

Kind of nice too.

–––––––––

He had noticed two weeks into the summer holidays that this were the _summer holidays._ And that he probably should not have stayed in Hogwarts.

Oh well.

He had work to do anyhow, and the House-elves hadn't stopped to leave him baskets full of food at the entrance to the Chamber each morning, so...

And it was much better than the Dursleys.

It did not matter that everyone had forgotten him.

It did not.

–––––––––

The Chamber was great and his favorite space and even if he was not working on it he was there if it was possible.

Unfortunately he had to spend time outside of it. Far too much time in his opinion.

Nobody cared about him, nobody asked about him, nobody talked to him except when they wanted something or thought they had to reprimand him.

He had wanted to hide, his magic had obliged and the more people only saw him when they had a reason too, for example being very determined to see or talk to the Boy-Who-Lived, the more he wanted to hide.

He trusted Azara and Hedwig and the house-elves, though. Therefore they could see him without problem.

He had relocated Hedwig to the Chamber, since there was plenty of space, she was safe there and he could spent more time with her.

Azara kept her eyes closed anyway, so she wouldn't hurt him.

–––––––––

In third year he connected his trunk to the Chamber, built himself a house there and stored everything he owned in it, even the contents of his vaults. The goblins were not exactly happy, but after he brought to their attention that Albus Dumbledore had somehow been able to take out a priceless heirloom (aka the cloak of invisibility) without Harry's permission, they didn't take offence. Much.

He fashioned himself an unbreakable wristband with the shrunken trunk safely stored in it. Then he poured his magic into protecting his and Azana's sanctuary from anyone trying to access it it from Hogwarts and from anyone trying to access it through his trunk.

And even if Hogwarts should fall, there was a chance that the Chamber of Secrets would preserve.

His home would hopefully prosper without anyone looking after it, at least for some time. He knew that even with all the spells and work he had put into it, the animals at least would need new blood occasionally.

But at least Azara had better chances of survival now and as long as he could he would look after the Chamber.

–––––––––

In third year he also relived his mother's death and his time with the Dursley's.

He learned the patronus charm, met his godfather and his godfather's significant other and decided that being an animagus was useful.

–––––––––

The world was still as cruel as he knew it to be in fourth year. Harry Potter's name was thrown into the Goblet and Harry had to take part in the Triwizard Tournament. Nobody helped but nobody tripped him and hexed him on his way to class either. People didn't notice him if he didn't make his presence very obvious.

So he heard, without really meaning to, how his classmates really thought about Harry Potter - mainly negatively at the moment - but also what the first task was.

He layered invisibility, and notice-me-nots, silencing charms and spells that hid his scent over one another, hoping any dragon he would have to face would ignore him like all the humans did. The Hungarian Horntail didn't recognise him as a possible threat until he had already taken the golden egg and only swiped at him when he was briskly walking back since running was always a bad idea with a predator. But even though the Dragon did not hurt any vital organs, a bit of dragon venom was still introduced to his system thanks to a tail spike that grazed his shoulder.

–––––––––

Azara recognised the screaching on the first day he got the egg and so he focused on learning how to swim quickly. He figured out that how to induce a vacuum right in front of him and was able to move _fast_ through the water. Since this had only taken him ten days, he figured he could use the rest of the time to make himself an animagus. Additionally to its resistance to Dementors, it could be used to hide oneself and you never knew when something like that would come in handy. He would be able to try it out in the Chamber, besides.

Depending on the form he'd take it might even help him with the second task.

–––––––––

He was not an animal that lived in the water.

Apparently he had two forms and his first one was a wyvern with Basilisk venom in his teeth and on his claws.

Azara had done the equivalent of cooing and wrapped herself around him, hissing §My little snakeling. I always knew you'd be a fierce hunter. And I can smell my venom on you. Truly mine, now. And nobody would dare challenge you, smelling our venom and seeing your fangs and claws and spikes.§ She sounded smug and very satisfied.

Harry felt like he was blushing and couldn't quit help snuggling back. Which in this form seemed to mean that he curled around the Basilik too and wrapped them even tighter together.

Two hours later when the sun they had been basking in had vanished, he practised controlling his new limbs while Azara patiently watched and Hedwig flew overhead or hooted from a nearby tree.

–––––––––

The Goblet had spat out Azara's name as the one most precious to Harry. Nobody knew who that was or where to find them, so they resigned themselves to sending him down to find a medallion instead of a person.

When he heard of the reason why he'd have to find something else than the other champions, Harry had wanted to laugh. He didn't think figuring out Azara's identity would have been the greatest difficulty.

His amusement faded quickly enough hearing the others panic. He cast a point me spell and then dived into the water. His method seemed to really be the fastest. When he arrived he decided that he would not leave the "treasures" here alone. There was a child even younger than him and the little girl looked sick. His aim had never been to win, anyway. So he conjured a wooden platform on the water and deposited all the victims there.

After having thrown warming and calming charms at them, he summend one champion after to the surface, pushed them onto his makeshift raft and calmed them down too. This cruelty had been unnecessary and he wanted to go home, besides.

Everybody was saved, the second task destroyed and nobody noticed anything Harry was doing after they had arrived on shore.

His exhaustion or pain did not matter. The spear wound healed soon enough anyway.

–––––––––

Cedric died, Harry's blood was stolen, Voldemort held him under the Cruciatus for a minute and Harry took Cedric's body to Hogwarts.

He was not interrogated. Everybody just fussed at the body, Dumbledore declared that this had been Voldemort's work and Harry spent two days in the Chamber brewing Dreamless sleep and the potion to lessen nerve damage. He ignored his shaking hands. When he collapsed Hedwig settled down on his shoulder and Azara reassured him §I will guard you, snakeling. Rest peacefully.§

–––––––––

He felt as if he could be attacked again at any moment, so Harry fashioned himself clothing out of the snakeskin Azana had shed over the years.

The outside would block any curses or hexes thrown at him and even knifes or other physical attacks would be stopped.

Everything was conceiled by a robe and a glamour.

Then he figured out a way to make boots out of it too. Now only his head was vulnerable still. Although he had made a hood, he didn't dare to wear it everyday. It was too obvious. Most would assume that they could hurt him by aiming anywhere, so the majority of first attacks should fail despite the weakness.

Azara approved.

The house-elves gave him two wand holsters and books about wand making, fighting and dueling.

Apparently there wasn't only a cave for Azara but a training room and a library in the mouth of Salazars' statue. Parselmagic was very straightforward and based on intent more than anything else. And your ability to hiss.

It was very convenient.

–––––––––

Dumbledore managed to remember that Harry Potter was Harry long enough to tell him that he would need to take lessons in occlumency from Snape because apparently Voldemort was connected to him.

Harry refused.

Dumbledore said that he was egoistical, that his parents would be ashamed of him and that Dumbledore himself was disappointed without using these exact words.

Had the old man always tried to manipulate him like this? His attempts seemed so obvious. Although he had lost a great deal of his attachment to Dumbledore, after Azara had cared for him _much_ better than Dumbledore ever did.

And she could only talk to him and wind herself around him, while Dumbledore had a lot of influence.

So Harry had asked for proof, comparmentalising the hurt the Headmaster's words had caused and not letting it influence his actions. He did adore using occlumency.

He agreed that learning occlumency was a good idea in general, but Dumbledore was trying to force _Snape_ and him to work together. Whenever Snape had to pay attention to him he was as nasty as he had been in his first year at Hogwarts. Practising occlumency with someone relied on _trust._ You needed to let someone into your mind, so they could show you how to order and protect it. The teacher needed to guide the student to build what would work best for them. He didn't trust Snape and Snape barely listened to his answers in potions class even if he had demanded Harry say something. Occlumency lessons would result in disaster.

Besides, Harry had trained himself in occlumency for years. Snape would, at most, be able to point out weaknesses in his defences Harry hadn't known about yet. But he was quite aware what places were vulnerable and he was working on them.

Dumbledore's reasoning was suspicious either way.

And when Harry still hadn't budged after an hour of cajoling and emotional manipulation, Dumbledore gave in and explained about his theory about the Horcrux.

Harry hesitated too long to answer apparently, because he then threatend to expel Harry if he did not go to the lesson with Snape.

Harry's eye twitched but he acquiesced.

For now.

–––––––––

The lesson were even more miserable than he had expected. Snape didn't even try to explain anything to him. He just growled and snapped at him.

But Harry wouldn't give Snape or the Headmaster more information about himself. He had seen how Dumbledore would use it and Snape's loyalty to either side of the past war was questionable at best.

What Harry was able to do was best only known to himself.

So he let Snape rip apart his first, flimsy line of defence again and again, pretended to be as hurt and angry and embarrassed as was appropriate and sighed in the _privacy_ of his mind about Snape's useless teaching methods and the time it all took away from him.

–––––––––

Umbridge tried to terrorize the school. It was such a pity her bloodquils vanished, after Harry came back bleeding from the first detention with her.

He wanted to make sure he was able to stay at Hogwarts.

But house-elves clean all rooms and though they don't usually take things, they agreed to make an exception.

Defence was terribly boring, of course, but he had to repair the damage from Snape's "lessons" and modify the fake memories one would be able to see after the first wall some time anyway. He moved his occlumency practise to the time of the lessons and his Defense practise to another and carried on.

At Halloween Umbridge tried to throw an Unforgivable at a first year, was stopped and thrown into Askaban.

The school rejoiced.

–––––––––

He made himself a wand and it honestly worked better than his first. He supposed a wand created by his own magic would have its advantages. And a lot did happen to change him since he was eleven.

–––––––––

Harry kept expanding the Chamber. Right next to the statue he started on a desert. The other landscapes all had the same weather, so it was a bit of a challenge to built in a new climat.

He suceeded to make it work and since this wasn't supposed to house any animals he just let the time of day vary instead of creating a night. Because the light of it would have disturbed the other habitats, the barrier around the desert not only prevented the temperature from affecting anything outside but also didn't let any light through.

Azara could now curl herself into the hot sand or onto hot stones any time she pleased. And Harry figured out that this was one of his favorite places too, transformed into a wyvern or not.

–––––––––

When fifth year was nearly finished, he was suddenly grabbed on his way back to the Chamber.

After a nauseaus second, Harry and whoever was behind him appeared in a different room.

There were rows and rows of glass spheres here and a wand was pressed to his back.

"Walk forward." The cultured voice of Lord Malfoy said. "Slowly, if you please, and without moving anything but your feet."

Alright. This was terrifying but not altogether unexpected. People always attacked him and Malfoy senior was a pretty well-known deatheater. Hogwarts hadn't been safe by any sort of measure for a long time, he had known that.

His panic and the probable flashback to the graveyard would wait for him, caged through his occlumency until he was safe again.

For now he didn't need any feelings to interfere with his calculations.

He had one wandholster at his wrist and the other at his hip conceiled by his robe.

Malfoy wouldn't be able to harm him aiming at his upper body.

Still, he should move fast. And the earlier he attacked, the better, if there was the possibility of others waiting for them. He supposed he should find out why he was kidnapped first.

"Why am I here?" He whispered. "I...I haven't done anything to anyone."

If he was going to talk, he might as well try to make his captor over-confident.

"Poor Potter." Malfoy sneered. "You only harmed our Lord. We will find out why you are a threat in a few moments."

Oh, well, that _would_ be interesting.

Was it worth the risk, though?

He suddendly turned around. "Stupefy" he whispered.

Probably not. And maybe he would find out anyway since he was already...wherever he was.

He managed a quick silencing charm before the falling body could give him away.

Then he continued to cast. "Homenum revelio" Four other persons fifty meters away. This hall was huge.

Another silencing charm for himself. Then he continued. "Notice-me-not. Protego. Point me exit." Apparently in the same direction as the persons. "Homenum revelio" They hadn't come closer.

§Location§ Britain, England, London, Ministry of Magic, Department of Mystery, Hall of Prophesies.

He would not yet dare to use parselmagic on a person if there was another option, so an Incarcerous in the direction of Malfoy later, Harry cautiously crept forward.

Then he heard screams. "Homenum revelio" he hastily repeated. Ten more people. Again. Twentyfive. All moving.

He hastened towards them, but he was still cautious to keep himself hidden.

Now he could see that Dumbledore was fighting against Voldemort. There were other people fighting against each other as well, some in the uniform of Aurors. And then Harry saw Sirius was dueling a woman. Why was he here? He was supposed to be in hiding! Then he was taunting the woman and didn't pay proper attention to the fight and then a spell got under his guard.

He was thrown towards the arc standing in the middle of the room. Harry's summening of the man was useless, there was too much interference and even as he tried to get to Sirius he knew he would be too late.

And then he was not. Suddendly he was next to Sirius pushing him out of the way. The last thing he saw was that Voldemort had fallen before the darkness swallowed him.


	2. Chapter 2

And then it spat him out again.

–––––––––

Harry had arrived in the Death Chamber with his magic snapping around him and his wand ready.

The Unspeakable who had been working on the Veil of Death, was very startled to say the least. But living in a magical society one was confronted with a lot of suprising happenings and they found their composure soon enough. They also didn't draw their wand.

"May I ask who you are and how you got here?" Never be rude to strangers who had suddendly appeared somewhere or done something that should not have been possible was one of the basic rules Unspeakables tried to keep to. Why make their job more difficult than it had to be? And they would rather not be attacked since it seemed this person was already agitated.

The person stared at them. It was a boy, they thought. "One moment." He said. "Protego. Muffilato." He seemed to continue casting, but they could not discern what.

They waited. Fifteen minutes later, the silencing and obscuring charms were ended.

"If I tell you, who I am and how I got here, what would happen to me?"

They had to be cautious. They thought they should be as honest as they could be without revealing much.

"It would depend on what you tell us. You've done nothing to harm anyone yet, so we would not treat you as a criminal. We would like to know what has happend and what you plan to do in the future before we let you go, though.

"Of course you would. Well then I'd like that promise in writing from the Head Unspeakable please."

–––––––––

Although James Potter had been an Auror for about two decades now, he had never been called to come to the Department of Mysteries before.

And this didn't even seem to be official business. The message from the Unspeakables told him and his wife to come this evening if possible.

Harry and Ivy were still in school, of course, so James' and Lily's only plans had been to have dinner with Sirius, Remus, Peter and Severus.

Their friends would understand them canceling and they could easily meet next weekend instead.

Which was why, he and Lily were now waiting on the Head Unspeakable.

He fidgeted. Lily took out a book from her pouch and began to read.

In Lily's opinion, the Unspeakables hadn't made them wait _that_ long.

According to James they did.

But both agreed that a little warning would have been nice.

–––––––––

Harry was very thankful for the time he had had to collect himself before doing anything.

He had thought he would die. Well, obviously not.

First he had had to get his magic under control. There somehow seemed to be more and what was there seemed wilder, more dangerous and aggressive. It felt like the thoughts of blood and fury and the knowledge of having nothing left to lose except his life.

He tried to soothe it and the snapping magic settled into him, calm like a beast waiting to be roused.

That would have to be enough for now.

Then he performed the location and time spells again, after shielding himself and hiding what he was doing at least. He wasn't about to reveal his ability to speak parseltongue to anyone, he still remembered the reactions of others in his second year. Also, it gave him the ability to ask his magic to do something without knowing the intonation or wand movement and he wasn't about tell anyone about that ability if he didn't have to. And certainly not in this unknown situation. While the time was similar at least, although it was morning instead of evening, the location was not. "Universe ∆`|••√" ?

The name of the universe was now included in the spell that showed him all relevant information about his location.

Alright. That was not weird at all.

Additionally he could see no traces of the battle. The room was smaller than before and better illuminated.

Was the Veil a doorway between universes? He hadn't ever heard of something like that, but he had read once that it had been used to execute people in the past. Perhaps it only went one way? 

It wasn't inconceivable that he had just changed universe. If it was so, he had, in all probability, lost _everything._

He put more magic into his occlumency walls.

He needed a clear head. Again. To make sure he was as safe as he could be.

Apparently there was a Ministry of Magic with Unspeakables, perhaps things weren't so different?

In any case, he needed to find out what differed and how he would fit into this new world.

To do that he needed help. The easiest way to get information and the documents he needed was from the Unspeakables. Especially because they would try to force him to tell them what had happend. Even if they wouldn't treat him "like a criminal", which he couldn't be sure of, that didn't mean they wouldn't treat him like a lab rat if they got a chance to.

Hence the contract.

–––––––––

Head Unspeakable Farley sighed after he had finished his meal with the young man who had come through the Veil. He had never had to deal with a child so stubborn before. Granted he didn't have to deal with many children at all, but still. This one had been _very_ insistent to tell them nothing before they signed the contract they had just spent hours revising and arguing over. The boy had not given them an inch and Farley had to admire his tenacity even if he wasn't very happy with the restrictions placed upon the Unspeakables.

The young man had refused to drink or eat anything they offered him and had kept up the shield around him while they were negotiating.

Although a non-agression pact had been included in the contract, that was now signed he still looked vary and sent analysing spells at his food before eating it.

After this much needed break though, they could finally start to truly investigate.

"I would propose that you give me a few history and law books, so I can give you a more comprehensible report in three hours or so."

Or not.

"At least tell us your name and some general information about your situation first."

The boy seemed to think about it. "My theory is that I've fallen into the Veil and then out again." He suddendly smiled. "You may call me Mephisto."

Ugh. Getting information from the young man was like trying to get a nifler to stay away from something golden even with "Mephisto" obligated to tell the truth. He hadn't really lied, he had just weasled his way out of the question.

He was obligated to tell them everything he knew about the Veil of Death, about his travel through, the things that could have influenced it and the most important facts about the whole event, before he was allowed to leave the Department of Mysteries.

But although Farley had been sure the boy would want to leave as soon as possible before he had signed their agreement, he wasn't so confident now. It might take a while. He would have to give him the books if he wanted to get anything out of Mephisto _some_ time.

According to the contract, they had to provide all the basic necessities for him. They weren't able to harm, threaten, manipulate or imprison him, they couldn't steal from him, subjugate him or his free will or even give him any substances or cast any spells on him without his explicit permission, although he had conceded to allow them to do very generic analysing spells. They showed that his body was built normally and that he had a rather large amount of magic. They weren't able to find out more, since the boy wasn't about to let them take more samples or sent more intrusive spells at him. They weren't allowed to ask or encourage anyone else to do anything of the things above to him either. They also had to tell him the truth if they talked to him.

The vow was very extensive and magic would make sure they adhered to it.

That Mephisto couldn't do anything to them either unless in self-defence was of little consolation.

Children were terrible.

This was going to be exhausting.

–––––––––

Five hours later Mephisto finally told them that he was finished with his research and if they would agree to help him set up a new legal identity here, he would tell them what they had required him to.

How was the kid still awake? Never mind sharp enough to make sure their agreement was worded right?

They grudgingly added a time limit to giving him all the legal paperwork he needed, promised to help him find a place to stay that was not under surveillance of the Ministry and one that was well equipped and willing to care for a child directly after he was allowed to leave and included that he could retake his OWLs at a date of his convenience, that they would be graded fairly, that they would allow him to use a wand without adult supervision afterwards and that they would not take longer than twenty days to give him the official certificate with the right grades on it.

Merlin, this child was paranoid.

–––––––––

Harry shoved his exhaustion into the back of his head and started his report. "As far as I can tell, I've fallen from one universe into another. They seem similar, at least though. In fact the history the books described is identical to the one I remember preceding 1920. In my former world, a person was born in the following years who became a Dark Lord and caused a civil war in Wizarding Britain. Obviously this is not the case here.

Instead the political tensions resulted in a radical movement whose members were condemned and imprisoned for their violent actions.

The population apparently took more interest in politics after the scandals. The laws seem more progressive here.

Even the school system has undergone changes that did not happen in my former universe. There was no elementary school and Binns for example was never dismissed.

Mr Dumbledore retired earlier in this world.

The most important change though, is that less people died, or at least they died later in life."

He moved on before anyone could interupt. He needed some sleep and he needed to get out of here.

"I only know that the Veil was used to execute prisoners.

When I fell through I was surrounded by darkness. I could feel, see or hear nothing until I appeared in the Death Chamber. I am not able to tell how long I was falling, but before I did it was evening. About six o'clock I think.

What could have influenced my fall was that I apparated towards the Veil of Death. Perhaps my magic was still surrounding me?"

The Unspeakables in the room hummed in acknowledgement of this theory.

"Now. Where will I stay for the forseeable future?"

Reluctantly Farley answered him "We would ask your closest relatives to care for you."

Harry suppressed the instictive "no" that wanted to slip out. There probably weren't a lot of options at his disposal.

And the Potters were alive. His closest relatives weren't the Dursleys anymore.

"I suppose you'll have to contact James and Lily Potter then." He said without letting any emotion seep through.

They weren't his parents. His parents were dead.

They were a... a reflection or copy or a person they could have been but they weren't his parents.

There was no reason to be affected by the fact that they were alive therefore. Their behaviour didn't matter.

His parents were _dead._

–––––––––

He estimated that about a fourth of his magic had to be used for occlumency now which was way too much.

He probably needed to let down one wall after the other when he finally got somewhere at least half-way safe because at this rate the barriers were going to break soon.

Not having time to recuperate between having to experience the feelings he had caged was _bad,_ but the walls breaking down was indefinitely _worse._

–––––––––

James and Lily were led into a small office. There the Head Unspeakable received them personally which was ominous.

"We have asked you to meet here with us because a person has come out of the Veil of Death."

"What? It was used to execute people. How can someone walk out?" Lily exclaimed. "Has this ever happend before?"

"Yeah, death is literally in its name. People don't just stay alive." James added.

"In this case one has. And the person who did, has claimed that you are his closest living relatives. We think that he might be your son, although he has not confirmed this."

"Harry is still at Hogwarts and if it is not him... I think I would have remembered birthing another son." Lily said, mildly dubious.

"Well, we have come to the conclusion that the Veil might be a portal between different universes. So he is not exactly your child but you could still be the closest thing to family he has in this world." Farley smiled sardonically. "That's why we would ask you to foster him."

Well, that was sudden.

After a look at their worried faces he continued "Don't worry, the boy has assured us while bound to speak the truth that his falling into the Veil was an accident not an execution."

"That was not exactly what we were concerned about." Lily muttered under her breath.

The Unspeakable continued. "We will provide all needed documents in a few days. He is fifteen, so the question of guardianship is only relevant for another two years. Will you accept it for this time?"

Lily and James exchanged a look. "We'd like to meet him first."

The man nodded and sent his patronus with the message.

"What's his name by the way?" James asked. For whatever reason, it hadn't been mentioned yet.

Farley seemed to be trying to resist scowling. "He asked to be called "Mephisto". He did not mention a surname."

James tried not to laugh while Lily raised her eyebrows.

"You don't know his real name?" James prodded.

Farley glared at him. "No. There are different theories. We know too little about the other world to make a reliable statement. Most agree that he probably is a Potter but concerning his first name we can only speculate. This might be another version of your son Harry. It might also be a version of a twin of Harry or you might not be his parents after all and Mephisto is another person entirely."

The door opened and a boy stepped in escorted by an Unspeakable.

He had long black hair and green eyes and they could understand why the Unspeakables thought this might be another version of Harry.

Farley greeted them and asked Mephisto to sit down.

He did. For a short moment there was an awkward silence. Then the boy turned to Lily and James and said in a formal tone "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr and Mrs Potter."

"The pleasure is ours" Lily answered, rather nonplussed.

"But you don't have to call us Mrs and Mr. Just James and Lily suits us better I think." James continued.

"As you wish."

"Head Unspeakable Farley told us you've come from another universe." Lily started awkwardly.

"Indeed." He reminded her of Severus but without the derogative comments.

At least she knew how to deal with that. Don't take it personally, come straight to the point and stay obnoxiously cheerful.

"Would you like to stay with us then?"

"I suppose it's the best option at the moment."

–––––––––

Harry knew he was being cold if not rude to ~~his parents~~ Lily and James but he couldn't allow himself to feel.

He couldn't assume to know anything about their characters. Most didn't like to speak ill of the dead and these people had led a different life so even without considering the possible embellishments on their traits they might not be the same. Lily might not have _ever_ been the same person as the one who had been willing to die for her child.

Besides, he wasn't her son. He was a burden placed upon them. He was intruding on their normal life and didn't that burn?

He only needed to stay there for two years, though.

He could survive two years. He wouldn't allow them to break him.

In any case it did not matter at the moment because he wasn't feeling anything.

~~He could feel his control slowly slipping through his fingers~~.

–––––––––

They apparated home. Lily had reached out to touch Mephisto and he had flinched back.

Which was a _bad_ sign.

On the other hand, this was a child whose whole world had just been turned upside down. It was only natural that he was twitchy, she supposed. Still, she would keep an eye on it.

–––––––––

"Alright, so this the kitchen, the sitting room and here is a small toilet." James led the way upstairs. "Here's our bedroom, Harry's room and there's Ivy's. I'm not sure if you've known that already, but they're our two children. At the moment they are still at Hogwarts, but they will come home for the summer holidays next week of course. Since this was pretty short notice you'll have to make do with the guestroom, which is here."

It was a plain room, comfortable but simple.

There was a pause.

"Are you hungry? I think, Rose, our house-elf has already prepared something."

"Yes."

They went downstairs again. Lily received them with an armful of clothes. "I think these will fit you. We'll have to go shopping soon. But for tonight and tomorrow at least, these will have to suffice."

They sat down at the table and food appeared in front of them.

"Thanks" James and Lily said in unison.

"Thank you, Rose." Mephisto said quieter but still audible.

–––––––––

Apparently Lily taught Charms in Hogwarts and James was an Auror. They were both friends with Snape, Sirius, Remus and _Wormtail._

Harry thought his opinion on _that_ would not be appreciated. These were not the same persons anyway.

They told him about their kids. Harry was according to them a brilliant seeker for Gryffindor and good at dueling, but not really interested in school beyond that.

His little sister was four years younger and would come home from her first year at Hogwarts. She had been sorted into Ravenclaw and loved heights and books.

Lily and James were very proud of their children, but they also didn't try to portray them in a better light by disparaging the accomplishments of others.

But of course they would still believe their own children instead of Harry if there was any conflict.

Two years.

At least they hadn't given their children atrocious nicknames.

–––––––––

When they had finished eating he told his ~~par~~ James and Lily that he was tired. Would they mind if he went to bed?

No, they thought they all could use some sleep.

He gladly escaped into the guestroom and put up silencing spells and alarm spells that would wake him if someone tried to open his door which was now locked.

He hoped they wouldn't notice the listening charm on James' shoe. The dinner table had conceiled his wand movements very well.

Just a bit longer, before he let himself crash down.

A few more minutes.

–––––––––

"Muffilato. So, what do think about all this?" Lily asked.

"I don't know. I mean I expected something weird when we got the letter, but "Hi, this your son from another dimension, take him with you please" is a bit much, don't you think?"

"I'd like to say "shut up, dear" but I think I'm too drained to do so."

James gasped theatrically "Has the goddess in my home, the light of my life just admitted that I'm not completly wrong? My purpose in life has been fulfilled, my every dream has been answered! The glory of this day shall be forever remembered and..."

Lily snorted. "Shut up, dear."

James smiled "There she is. I know it's a lot, but don't worry. We can do this. One step at a time."

"I know. Did you notice how he was more comfortable speaking to Rose than he was the whole evening?"

"You mean have I noticed the one moment he wasn't a walking icicle?"

"James."

"No, I can see why he would be devastated or shy or angry, but he behaved like he was standing apart from it all. I would say, we were more nervous than he was."

"James. It's probably how he copes at the moment. Perhaps he's in shock or just tries to get through it all somehow."

"Yeah. But I can't really relate to all that polite, distant stuff. That's more Snape's area."

Lily laughed. "He did remind me of Severus." She grimaced. "In more than one way. You know he flinched when I tried to take his arm to apparate. It looked instictive."

"You think he's been abused?"

"I'm not sure. Just be a bit more considerate than normal? And we'll see if we can get him to go to a healer when the legal documents are there."

"Alright. Do you have a plan for tomorrow?"

"I can't really stay at home. On friday's I have to take the one NEWT class Flitwick doesn't teach. Can you?"

"No, not really. There's this lead we got today..."

"I think it'll be ok. Rose will be there if he needs anything and he is fifteen. We'll just have to speak with Mephisto in the morning. You know, I wonder why he chose that name."

"I wasn't that surprised, Lils. It's unique, but most names in the Wizarding World are."

"I believe Mephisto is short for Mephistopheles, the name of a or the devil in christian lore. He has probably chosen that name for himself when the Unspeakables asked him for one. But why take that one?"

"Maybe we'll find out in the next days."

"Yes, you're right. We should go to bed too. I'd like to be up before our...ward tomorrow."

–––––––––

He stopped listening to the transmission from the charm, he had heard enough for now.

Harry would just like to say that he was _not_ similar to _Snape._ And it was very weird that ~~his~~ that Lily thought he was.

That was a good thing to concentrate on. Not the fact that Lily had noticed that he had flinched. He really was slipping. Or that James had not liked his behaviour.

His parents were dead.

–––––––––

Harry needed to let down the occlumency walls. He automatically fell into his routine.

Was he alone? Yes.

Silencing spells? Yes.

Alarm spells? Yes.

Then he opened his bracelet, took out his shrunken suitcase and stared.

Wait.

Could he...

If it still worked then...

He enlarged it. Threw up a protego that would protect the room.

Hesitated, then shielded himself.

He opened the suitcase slowly.

Nothing happend.

He stared at the slide the trunk opened to and the visible grassland below it.

It was still there.

He couldn't believe it.

This was everything he needed. He could cope with anything as long as he had this.

But was it real?

He stumbled into it. Let the trunk close behind him. Slid down unto the grass.

Looked around.

§Are you alright, hatchling?§

The walls broke down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lily: Have you heard something?  
> James: No. Why?  
> Lily: I just had a feeling we missed something important.  
> Author: Well... You'll find out some day?
> 
> Hours earlier:  
> Farley: I won't sign this contract. It gives you way to many human rights and advantages.  
> Harry pulling on his hood: Alright. But you know, while you try to destroy my protego I could escape, more people could come through the veil...a lot can happen in two minutes.  
> Obscurus Magic rubbing their hands in the background and cackling  
> Farley: Fine. I'll sign.  
> Harry leaving with every book the Unspeakables have.  
> Farley sighing: Kids these days and their need and ability to blackmail their elders. So exhausting. Please let me retire?  
> Author: Nope.  
> Farley dropping his head onto the table: Ugh.


End file.
